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fics-not-tragedies · 4 years

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In a Week: Chapter 2 🌲

I know that there aren’t many people interested in this fic, but honestly this will be going on for some time, because it’s my favorite idea! Also I forgot to post it yesterday, oops...

Words: 3060; Warnings: none, unless you want another warning for alcohol drinking, then you have it; Summary: Flo meets Andrew who decides to keep her occupied with his presence through the whole week.

Hozier tag list:

@letoursilencebreaktonight; @angelpeachamber; @sgt-morgan; @julessbrown;

Sunday, 11:05pm

After ordering two Malibus, desperately trying not to down them before he even had the chance to ask her about her name, Andrew pulled the chair back and sat down, sliding the glass across the table to her, his hand longing on it, hoping she’d brush her fingers against his skin.

There was something about this girl, the way her impossibly green eyes lit up whenever she looked in his direction that made him want to give her anything she could possibly want. She wrapped her fingertips around the bottom part of the glass, purposely avoiding his hand and pulled it closer to her.

He cleared his throat, suddenly becoming aware of the silence that had been building between them since he sat, but before he could form something clever or witty, he simply spat out the most obvious question that had been circulating since he first caught her gaze.

“What’s your name?” He asked slowly, bringing the glass to his lips and taking a sip.

“Flo” she replied quickly. Andrew nodded, toying with the word in his mind before deciding that it absolutely suited her. He had a thing for noting when people didn’t suit their names but Flo unquestionably did. It was strong, bold and gorgeous and he practiced saying it out loud, enjoying the way it rolled off his tongue.

“Technically it’s Florence” she smiled watching his narrow lips, her cheeks blushing slightly, but she held her chin high, determined to keep her confidence she was still trying to work on, “but I prefer to be called Flo.”

“It’s still a great name” he announced, sinking further into his seat and fixing his eyes on her. There was an ease, an instant softness to the way they spoke to each other despite the overly long pauses.

“Thank you” she said with a shy smile, tucking strands of straw blonde hair behind her ears.

Andrew was mesmerized by the movement of her small hands, the slim gold jewelry that decorated her fingers, her black painted nails.

“Do you have a name?” She asked, feeling utterly ridiculous at the way she phrased it.

Stop trying to be cool.

Andrew squinted at her a little, as if he was trying to work something out, but replied after a second.

“Andrew. Andrew, Andy. You can call me any name that you think suits me.”

“I like them all. Can’t I pick them all?”

“If you want to” he chuckled and they both took their drinks into their hands, silently sipping for a moment or two. The record changed and he looked in the record player’s direction as she tried to figure out what tune is being played now. When she turned back to face him he was grinning from ear to ear, his long hair messy as he ran his hand through it again, wide grin on his face. She smiled back helplessly, “What do you do, honey?” he asked, his lips pressed into the edge of the glass.

“What do I do?”

“Yeah, em… for work and everything that includes” he continued, placing his drink onto the table, pressing his hands together, as he explained himself.

“Oh!” She exclaimed, her face bright, “I’m the head of IT department in a big company. Big office. Big desk. Got one of those spiny chairs too” Andrew was amused by the way she wiggled her finger to explain the movement of her chair. Flo usually held back from talking about her job, men were usually intimidated by her success, but Andrew was different, seemed to understand her even though they just met, “What do you do?”

“What do I do?” He replied quickly, pausing from taking another sip.

So she didn’t know. What a relief.

“Yeah?” He tilted his head and bit the inside of his lip, thinking, glancing away for a moment. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had to explain this. Everywhere he went, people just knew him. But not this girl, this girl was different. Just being himself wouldn’t cut it this time. She was a challenge. And that was exciting.

“I’m a musician and I’m in a band.”

“You are?” She answered quickly, her eyes squinting with excitement at his confession, the vague familiarity of his face striking her again, “That’s so cool! I’d love to hear some of your tunes” he watched as she lean forward enthusiastically, her hair falling over shoulders, soft like honey.

Andrew was obsessed, bewitched, mesmerized by her every move. Not only was she dazzling in every way, she was oblivious to who he was, completely unfazed by it all and it was magical. A complete fantasy. A clean slate.

“Em… perhaps. I don’t usually play my music…”

“Oh why not!” She pouted, “Not even for me?” even the way her lips formed words delighted him. He swallowed sharply, trying to focus on what she was saying. What was she saying? He was lost.

“We will see” he replied with a shrug, though he already knew he would do anything she wanted him to.

“What do you play?” She continued adamantly and he laughed, hoping they would move on from the topic, but she seemed genuinely interested in him as he was in her and she was clearly not going to give up without a fight.

“Are we still talking about… em… me?”

“Yes” she replied confidently, batting her long lashes in his direction.

“The guitar, piano… and… em… other stuff. I do the singing as well.”

“Ooh… I always wanted to learn to play the guitar, but never really had the chance to start it” she grinned and nodded to the direction of the music, “Promise me you’ll play me something on the piano! I noticed it in the ballroom as I walked here.”

“Yeah, I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Andrew” she warned, winking at him. He exhaled sharply and smiled, all warm and intoxicated.

“Never do” Andrew took another mouthful of his Malibu and tried to keep his eyes from wandering over Flo’s body, “I’m here for the whole week” he stated.

“Good” she replied sharply, the thought of a whole week with this man beginning to excite her beyond any rational explanation, “Me too.”

“Why are you here Flo? Em… are you running away from something, honey?”

“How did you worked out that one?” She replied, a slight panic in her voice. Was she really that easy to read? She pushed a few loose strands of hair from her eyes, not used to feeling so vulnerable.

“Well…” he mumbled, lowering his voice and leaning across the table slightly, “I was only guessing, but em… now I know I was right somehow.”

“Maybe I just needed to get away for the week?” She replied, crossing her arms on her chest, unintentionally drawing more attention to it.

“But why did you needed to get away for the week?” He continued teasingly, pointing his finger and raising one eyebrow before taking another sip from his glass which was nearing empty, “That the em… main question now.”

Flo glanced down at her own glass, realizing that she already had more than she planned to drink tonight, she was nearly three cocktails down. She swirled her finger over the edge of her glass. Then she moved her eyes back to his, the warmness of his eyes making her toes curl and found herself spilling all her secrets without hesitation.

“Well if you must know, uh… I just needed to take a break from everything” there was an obvious crack to her voice that which Andrew couldn’t help but find endearing, even though he embarrassingly wanted to comfort her. He had to slow down on the drink, “I have to rethink my life and perhaps start something new.”

“Oh yes, em… I get that” he sighed, gritting his teeth, “I’m sorry to hear that.” though the perfect stranger opposite her was nothing but a perfect stranger, she knew he was being genuine, that he really was sorry. His eyebrows pulled in and he pulled the softness expression she has ever seen, then like a perfect contradiction he added… “Life sometimes gets too fucked up.”

“Yeah…” she mumbled into her drink, taking another huge sip of it.

The issues and problems mixed together. The loneliness. The way her heart was ripped out of her chest many years ago. Everything that had lead her to this very moment.

Andrew’s voice broke her from her trance, “You’re still on this planet with me, honey?” He waved his hand in her face goofily and she blinked herself back to the room. First the beautiful record sounds, then the stunning vintage decor, then him.

“Yes. Sorry. I’m here.” Flo tipped the remnants of her glass back, savoring the taste of the liquor in her throat and patted her lips dry.

“Look, Lo” he began, scratching his nose and she giggled instinctively at her new nickname, “Em… can I call you Lo?” She nodded in response, “I know you’re feeling absolutely shitty now, but I think em… I think I have em… a plan.”

“Great, because I have no plan.”

“How about we em… spend the whole week together. I can take you for long walks in the woods if the weather gets better and em… I’ll try my best to make you feel better. Even if I had to play the piano for the whole fucking night.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t…”

“Never do” he repeated, cutting her off with a wild grin before she could finish the sentence. He stared her down, his round muddy green eyes unblinking, somehow soft and sexy at the same time, “Well?”

She pursed her lips, weighing the options. Three scenarios were crystal clear in her mind.

Scenario one was an awkward, drunken one night stand which they’d both regret in the morning.

Scenario two was that one of them would make advances on the other and they would argue explosively about it.

And scenario three was that they would spend the weekend simply enjoying each other’s company, until another Monday afternoon comes and they’d never speak again.

She couldn’t decide which sounded best in her head. Unable to determine what she really wanted from her week away from reality, she looked momentarily back to him, tilting her head. She was unable to keep the smile from stretching across her lips when he wiggled his eyebrows in her direction, smoothing his hair back. She shook her head and laughed.

“Fine. I’m in.”

“Another drink?” He asked, waving over a waiter before she even had a chance to reply.

Sunday, 11:25pm

“Surname?”

“Hozier Byrne.”

“Oooh, sexy” she laughed, the alcohol well and truly absorbed into her bloodstream now, “Wait a second… Hozier? Like… you sang that song about church?”

“Sadly I did… em… same question?” He replied, drumming his long fingers on the table, trying to keep his hand occupied.

“Hayes.”

“Flo Hayes…” he mused, rolling the name over in his deep drawl.

“Do you believe in miracles?” She asked, focused on learning as much as she could.

“Em, I think so. Like me being here with you is a miracle, somehow isn’t it?” He chuckled, the creases around his eyes more obvious than before, “Do you?”

“You can’t just ask the same question back every time, Andy” Flo replied, rolling her eyes.

“But you always ask good questions!” he pressed his finger to his temple for a moment, focusing his brain through the fogginess the drinking had brought on, “Do you like em… sleeping?”

“Do I like sleeping?!” Flo scoffed, “Yes. But come on you can do much better than that!”

“Oh Lo, I don’t know… em… you ever broke someone's heart?” Flo could tell he was proud of himself.

“That’s a good one! Probably my first boyfriend. We were 17 and I moved to another country never seeing him again.”

“He probably never got over you em… he probably wrote sad songs about you” Andrew proclaimed as he finished the last of another glass, his voice bold despite the fact he was beginning to slur. Flo was briefly aware of a nervous sensation building in her stomach but ignored it, having the next question prepared as a distraction.

“Okay, you ever wrote a song about your ex?”

“Uhhh…” he took final sip of his drink before placing the empty glass on the table with a loud thud, “Great amount of my songs are the ones about my exes… It’s the yearning for something you once had, but now it’s all lost.”

“The yearning” she repeated after him, before taking a sip from her glass. Before he could say anything else she threw another question at him, “What was your last text?”

He fumbled through his pants pockets to fish out his phone out of them. He tried to unlock it, but the drunken haze wasn’t helping him with dealing with electronic devices.

“Do you need help with it?” Flo asked.

Though he had genuinely been struggling, Andrew took this perfect opportunity to drag his chair closer to hers, so that his whole body was close to her, the table between them had been killing him. Suddenly her knee was against his and he tried not to notice, handing her his phone. She flipped her hair over her shoulder effortlessly and took it from him, her fingers almost brushing his.

Her neck was exposed to him now, pale and smooth and inviting and he inhaled a little too loudly, drunk instantly on her perfume. She was sweet and spicy all at once and he reeled in the uniqueness of it. If she had been a random girl at a random bar, he’d have made all of the moves by now. But there was something untouchable about Flo - he knew he had to work for that opportunity and he was more than happy to.

“Who’s Alex?” She asked seconds later, looking up at him and catching her breath in her throat, not used to him being this close.

“He’s my close friend. He’s in the band with me.”

“Mhm. So your last text was ‘miss you too’” Andrew grinned awkwardly, taking his phone back, only half embarrassed.

“It’s your turn” Flo chuckled.

“Emmm” Andrew licked his lips absent-minded, silently craving a cigarette, even though he knew he shouldn’t be getting into smoking again, determined to drag it out as long as possible so he could stay with her, “Would you rather go to the outer space or… or dive to the bottom of a bog?”

“Easy” she declared, clapping her hands together, “Space. It’s so fascinating and beautiful. All of those stars and colors… And I hate bogs. Too many germs.”

“Well, you wouldn’t have to touch the bog water, you’d in a bog submarine” she giggled a little at his words.

“Bog submarine sounds really interesting, but the stars are much prettier Andrew” she added, “Don’t you think?”

“Absolutely.”

“Okay, Andrew. What makes you get out of bed in the morning?”

“Lots of alarms. So many of them that my phone once scolded me for having too many… emm… good cup of tea, toasts and my dog.”

“So you’re single?” Flo blurted, her mouth outrunning her brain for once. Apparently she wasn’t even trying to be cool anymore, “Except for the dog of course” she added with a large smile on her face.

“A good boyfriend would be sat here, on my chair, right next to you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she laughed, the corners of her full lips twisted upwards. Andrew cleared his throat.

“You’re pretty… em… and I hope you’re aware of it.”

“Oh shhh…” she waved him off, her cheeks unusually hot, before adding a quiet: “thank you.”

“So you agree with me?” He purred, his lips parted as if waiting for something. He couldn’t remember the last time a girl had actually accepted his compliment and it was so refreshing, her self-assured nature making him somehow more eager to please.

“Am I not allowed to agree?”

“Of course you can agree. Don’t think anybody could disagree” Andrew and Flo locked eyes for a moment obviously too long, each of them scared to be the first to turn away. Eventually Andrew broke away, consumed by her intensity, devastated that his glass was empty, instead occupying himself with the search for his lighter.

“Is it my turn?” She asked, finishing the leftovers of her fourth? Or was it the fifth? cocktail to divert her mind from wandering further into the ridiculously gorgeous way he smelt.

“No, em… you already asked your question, honey.”

“I did?”

“Em… yes… em… you asked if I was single.”

“Right” she nodded, nonchalantly pulling her bottom lip between her teeth.

“I need a cigarette” Andrew announced at last, convinced he couldn’t sit here and be tortured by her for a moment longer.

“Need?”

“Quite desperate need” she was unsure whether he was talking about the cigarette or her now, Andrew pulled a cigarette from his packet and balanced it between his lips. The movement was so slick, so rehearsed. Flo wondered how many girls had watched him make exactly the same move. She shuffled in her chair uncomfortably as he stood and did up the button on the front of his red flannel shirt.

“Okay. I’ll…”

“You’re going with me, yes?” He asked plainly, more of a statement than a question, his palm outstretched to pull her up.

Andrew swallowed and she watched his Adam’s apple bob in his throat, enchanted by the fluffiness of his beard, the softness of his skin.

How could she ever say no to him? She reached out for him and he couldn’t help but stroke down her wrist, taking the tips of her fingers in his, the simple touch enough to make her light-headed. He pulled her up with ease, stroking her palm with his thumb as he reluctantly let go.

Andrew was relieved to have at last touched her, knowing he could now die happy just having done that but he was heartbroken to let go once she was standing. She exhaled sharply, her eyes glowing an unrivaled green under the vintage bulbs, a delicate smile stretched on her face.

“You ever broke someone's heart?” he asked her before. Fuck, if she didn’t break his every time she smiled at him like that.

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sunnydwrites · 7 years

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Writing Multilingual Characters

Anonymous asked:

Could you give us some tips of writing characters that speak more than one language please? Thanks!

Well there, Nony, in truth this is something I’ve been wanting to talk about for approximately forever. Be prepared for a lot of references to my current project here, because in Smoke Shadows knowing more than one language is commonplace for most of my characters.

Give your character a reason to know more than one language. This can be of any degree of importance, you just have to know it. If you’re stuck on ideas, here are a few pulled from my life and from Smoke Shadows. Keep in mind when reading these that, like learning everything else, any reason to increase your knowledge is a good one.

I started learning Spanish because it was a requirement in my school, starting in second grade.

I started learning German because I had an interest in it.

Jax started learning Brateo (the world’s universal language) because he needed it to communicate in the complex.

Ryker started learning every language he knows because of an interest or because of a friend who could speak it.

Know your world’s languages. Know them backwards, forwards, sideways, and upside-down. Also, know your characters. Know their native language, know what languages they’re learning and what levels they’re at in terms of proficiency. Just like you would keep track of your own learning, keep track of your characters’ learning as well.

Familiarize yourself with the mistakes they frequently make in their second language. Then, write your character working to fix those mistakes in their learning.

Know the obscure rules of your language (bonus points if nobody really knows why). A good example of this is the classic “i before e except after c”.

Determine what would constitute as the next few “big steps” in their learning process. Maybe it’s putting together a well-structured sentence, maybe it’s remembering the gender of a word. Maybe it’s remembering the alphabet in order and the different spelling rules. Write down the next five “big steps” and how long they should take.

Determine your sources of immersion. Let’s make this clear right now: if you’re learning a language but don’t get any actual exposure to it along the way, your journey is going to be a lot tougher. Figure out what types of media your character likes to start.

If they like music, determine how your character can access music in another language. (Maybe there’s an equivalent to Spotify?)

Whatever they prefer to use, even in today’s world there’s something for everyone. If your story is set in today’s world, consider things like Spotify, Netflix, and YouTube to help you out. Don’t discredit books or podcasts in other languages, either, and remember that there is media specifically meant for self-teaching language.

Remember that there are things polyglots don’t do. We can make a lot of mistakes, yeah, but there are definite things that have been written that usually don’t occur naturally. A few of these things include, but are not limited to:

Switching languages in the middle of a conversation (unless they are absolutely sure their conversational partner can keep up and it’s been established as appropriate).

Talk to someone in a language foreign to the other person. If their conversational partner only knows English, for example, your character shouldn’t start a conversation with them in French because they “forgot”. Unless it’s on purpose, and they’re trying to annoy the other person.

Always have motivation. Some days we don’t practice at all, and work on it the next day. Sometimes we don’t practice our third languages as much as we should (what no I’m not throwing shade at myself stop that), and it’s not always because we don’t have time.

Always switch seamlessly between languages. If it’s one we don’t have much experience in, it may take a few exchanges to get things going smoothly. Even if it’s a language we’re fluent in, some days the language will switch and it will still take a few exchanges for our brains to go, “oh, this is what we’re doing now.”

Inversely, remember that there are things polyglots do do. Sometimes when I’m reading multilingual characters, there are a few things I would add to make it a bit more realistic. Some of these things include, but are not limited to:

Switch easily between languages, specifically in reading, writing, and listening. I know, this one contradicts one of the don’ts, but this is important. Reading, writing, and listening are a whole lot easier than speaking, so we sometimes find it easier to eavesdrop in a different language than to hold a conversation.

Pat themselves on the back often. If someone walks past speaking in a language we’re learning and we understand every word, that’s the kind of pride that’s hard to ignore.

Forget words in different languages. The other day, I forgot the English word for “keys”. The first word for it that came to me was “llaves” (which is Spanish for keys) and I had to correct myself when I threw it into conversation as if it was normal. *This occurrence is probably more common between second, third, etc languages than with a person’s native language.*

Get addicted to too many new languages. It’s a slippery slope, and I just had to include this one because of Ryker. He started off with Brateo, and by this point he’s learned every modern language in the Colonies (there are only ten) and if moving onto the ancient ones.

So, there’s a lot to take in here. As a polyglot myself, I wanted to make this post as helpful as I could. Thanks so much for asking!

And that’s all I’ve got for today. If there’s anything you’d like to see me talk about in my next post, please don’t hesitate to leave a message in my ask. Until next time, stay lovely <333

#writing tips #multilingual characters #languages

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